Class of 2023 National Merit discussion

I believe 95% make it through. (3.5) GPA and higher. That 5% that do not I believe are to extenuating circumstances. Fingers crossed! I hope.

Lindsey said she had 12 so far that had put down deposits, so at least right now they’re not close to 40.

Wow! Thats good to know. If they don’t get 40 we could all holdout for 100%. Lol

you think he will be denied as a Finalist?

Just checking because you hadn’t mentioned the enrollment deposit part in your post and wanted to make sure you were good.

Actually I made a mental note to double check my D for to reassure me which deposit she paid. :sweat_smile: It been so long I cant remember.

Will UCF notify students as soon as they make it into the first 40? What happens if someone paid enrollment with hopes of making it into the 40 but didn’t, are they committed with no scholarship to UCF?

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My understanding from the meeting with Lindsey: You let her know after you’ve paid, and then she can confirm your standing in the top 40 on the UCF NMF list (assuming that the student’s name is on the NMSC first-choice list when that comes out in March). I’m sure you could ask her beforehand to make sure that the 40 isn’t full-up before making your payment.

If you accidentally ended up say number 41, I believe there were a couple NMFs who cancelled last year and students from the waitlist got on, so that’s an option. Worst case though: Since UCF isn’t offering you a scholarship, you could change your first choice school from UCF to undecided and then go instead to Tulsa, UT-Dallas, Alabama, etc. (Would be out the nonrefundable part of the UCF deposit, though.)

[edited to remove some apparent inaccuracies]

Actually you can change your first choice. Its where you are on end up on May first that matters.

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Thank you. Good to know that the student is not totally locked (understand that they will loose the deposit) to the school.

How and when will the students know if they are NMF? If it is dependent on snail mail, seems like the first 40 is kind of dependent on who gets their mail first. Is there a specific date when the decisions are uploaded in their online NMSC account?

[removed, seemingly not accurate anymore]

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(As you make your decision about who to report as first choice (or whether to remain undecided), research the websites of each of the colleges you are considering. This will help you determine if they participate in the NMSC program, how much they award, and if they have any particular deadlines you need to meet to gain maximum consideration. When selecting a first-choice college, keep these things in mind:

  • Sometimes (not always), there can be an advantage in reporting a college as first choice by March 1. Some colleges limit their awards and give priority to the students who appear on their first roster from NMSC. Alternatively, you may want to show “demonstrated interest” at a particular college by letting them see you have selected them as first choice.
  • Remember, if you report a college as first choice, you can always change your mind. However, be careful not to miss NMSC’s deadline for reporting this change. Technically you have until May 31 to change your first choice. However if a college offers you an award and NMSC goes out with an announcement of that award on May 1, then you are no longer able to transfer the college sponsorship, and you will be ineligible at the new institution. Therefore to be safe, make sure you report your new first choice to NMSC by April 30 at the latest. This makes sense, since you’ll be deciding where to enroll by then anyway!)
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Reality is, you’ll know for 99 percent sure if it’s the end of January and you haven’t received a letter from the NMSC telling you that you aren’t. 100 percent, you have to wait for snail mail either to your school or to you directly. At some point their NMSC account will say it officially as well, but I believe (can’t swear by it) that it’s after the snail mail.

If it was February 1st, hadn’t received a “sorry, but no” letter from NMSC, and my son had definitely decided on UCF, I’d have no problem paying the deposit then and ensuring he had a spot.

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I removed my earlier post, because it doesn’t look like it’s accurate anymore. I think you’re correct. Here’s the official verbiage from NMSC:

"MAY 1, 2023
NMSC will begin emailing college-sponsored Merit Scholarship offer notifications.

IMPORTANT: If NMSC receives notification of a change in college choice from a Finalist after posting a college-sponsored Merit Scholarship offer to that student’s OSA dashboard, the change in college choice will not be processed by NMSC or reported to the newly selected college, and the Finalist cannot be considered for or offered another college-sponsored Merit Scholarship award. This applies even if the new choice of college is one that also sponsors Merit Scholarship awards. Therefore, a Finalist who has previously reported a sponsor college as first choice but is uncertain about it may change their college choice to “undecided” to prevent being made an offer from a school the Finalist is uncertain about attending; such notification must be submitted online at osa.nationalmerit.org before May 1. The Finalist can subsequently report a firm college choice that NMSC receives by May 31."

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I figure that the only college expenses I will have for my D2023 is U apps, U deposits and car insurance. So I paid for 3 apps, 2 deposits dorm fees. Then I expect some partial refunds. My first two this ended up being the case.

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You can update your NMF number one school at any time I think. You don’t have to know whether you are actually NMF before putting a school down. So you could have done it in October or you can do it this week. It was a question on the NMF application they got in September. I don’t know if you can edit online or call NMF to do it; I’ve heard they’re very helpful. When Lyndsey pulls the report, it is the data that she gets from NMF of who had listed UCF as top choice.

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Making sure you actually haven’t put down two enrollment fees! That could be trouble. Two housing fees are okay, but a student can’t deposit and commit at two different schools at the same time. You can cancel one and then deposit at another though. There have been students whose acceptances and scholarships at both schools were rescinded due to double deposits. I hear about instances every year. Don’t want anyone to have any issues.

Anyone knows the NMF Scholarships at USF Tampa. Are they automatic for all NMF admitted OOS students?

Correct. If you look back at this and other forums, people are rejected for “low” grades but to me the grades aren’t that low. It will be interesting to see how my kid fares!

:flushed:
Now i am nervous. Low grades, like how low?

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